Local artist Kresge battling dementia has family by his side

By Stacy M. BrownFor the Pocono Record

Wednesday

Jun 27, 2018 at 6:00 PM

Gary Kresge has been a fixture in the region’s art scene for more than 30 years.

He grew up in Stroudsburg and became well-known for his landscapes — which are housed in many private and corporate collections — that include only the essential details in order for the viewer to access an organic experience.

Now, his family is painting a brave picture for the famed artist who, since 2014, has battled Frontotemporal Dementia or Degeneration (FTD) — or Pick’s Disease. His daughter, Andrea Kresge Phillips this week reflected on the battle.

Sitting in what used to be her dad’s art studio, what she described as a beautiful open room with vaulted ceilings and bright, natural light, Phillips reflected on some of her best childhood memories that took place in that room.

“When he was painting the house smelled of incense, oil paint and turpentine, the studio was filled with the energy of joy and creativity and there was always interesting music playing – everything from Debussy to Miles Davis to The Swans or Type O Negative,” she said, noting that she’d written her thoughts down because she wanted to share them with the Pocono Record and its readers.

“Seeing him making his art so freely taught me to pursue self-expression and my own creativity without hesitation. He had this influence on my cousins and friends as well. As far as I’m concerned, in his healthy years my dad was a special kind of genius,” Phillips said.

In 2012, along with local legend Bob Dorough, Kresge was honored by the Pocono Arts Council. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame while Dorough received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Phillips said her dad’s paintings can be seen at the Hughes Library in Stroudsburg, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono cancer center, St. Luke’s, Skytop Resort, and other places.

Folks who were around in the 1990’s might remember the Bixler Gallery in Stroudsburg, she said.

Before a fire destroyed the building, and before Main Street Jukebox made it a hip music destination, it was Stroudsburg’s first professional art gallery.

“My dad was one of the artists who helped make Bixler gallery the art destination what it was. I was always so proud to be at his openings,” Phillips said.

A skilled landscape painter, Kresge masterfully crafted oil paintings of local fields and forests, as well as southwestern and European landscapes inspired by vacations he took with his wife, Katharine, and Phillips. His paintings hung in galleries from Wilmington, Delaware to Boston, and he even held an art show in England.

“As I write, my dad is watching television and sleeping on and off in his chair," Phillips said. "His drive to paint is gone, and as we anticipated, he is developing Parkinson’s-like symptoms, which is a side-effect of his disease. He no longer has control over his hands like he once did, so even if he wanted to paint, he couldn’t. My mom and I have had to accept that there will be no more paintings and we cherish the ones we still have.”

Phillips said when one hears dementia, most think of Alzheimer’s, which accounts for about 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. However, she said she’s learned that FTD affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which are the areas associated with personality, behavior and language.

“My dad’s diagnosis is behavioral variant FTD — or bvFTD, which means that the primary way the disease presents itself is through behavioral changes. The physical changes, which Kresge is experiencing now, come years after the behavioral ones and FTD remains a relatively unknown disease and hasn’t been researched the way Alzheimer’s has.

“Surprisingly, it is a dementia that affects young people. Even though it’s a relatively rare dementia, it is the most common type diagnosed in people under age 60,” Phillips said.

She acknowledged that there have been cases of people in their 30’s and 40’s being diagnosed with it.

“We know my dad has had this disease for a long time. It is a credit to his intelligence and tenacity that he worked for years as a welfare caseworker caring tremendously about his clients and he continued to paint for so many years while gradually experiencing the deterioration that the disease causes,” Phillips said.

Historically, Kresge was always somewhat of a loner, but the disease has caused him to become a people person, even seeking out strangers to talk to in the grocery store, his daughter said. Katharine Kresge said her husband loved to have people see nature through his eyes. She said he’s an environmentalist and felt most comfortable out in nature, so hiking trips, forays out into nature was a huge part of his painting process.

“One of his favorite comments that people would say to him is that they were out somewhere and saw in nature a Gary Kresge painting,” she said. “He loved that his paintings could help people really see the beauty in nature. He also loved music and installed a terrific sound system into his studio and almost always had music on when he painted.”

Katherine continued: He had fun with it and loved to share music he loved with his painting audience and anyone who wanted to be listed and he even had a music show on the ESU radio station called Sound Scapes in the early 1990’s for a few years playing electronic and minimalistic music. He loved sharing what he loved with other people. “

Kresge added that her husband now lives in a world of immediate needs only and lacks the understanding of conversation, reading or watching television. Physically he has lost coordination so balance, walking, writing even eating can be difficult, she said.

“He was and still is a kind man, a person who wanted to help others, a family man who put family first. He had eyes that saw and looked for scenes to paint everywhere he went, it was just a part of him, not something he learned to do,” Kresge said.

“Being his wife, I learned to look and see things as he did, and we raised our daughter to do the same, and it is a wonderful way to be. One is always looking for and finding beauty everywhere. There is something in that that feeds the soul,” she said.

Surprisingly, a person with FTD’s memory is usually well-preserved and Kresge most clearly remembers the 1960’s and often talks about his time as a Marine in Japan and the Philippines even though he didn’t necessarily enjoy his military time, Phillips said.

The family is still counting their blessings because Kresge is quite happy and unaware of the changes to his personality and body, she said. What’s surprising is that the age of onset for FTD varies from 21 to 80, but the majority of cases occur between the ages of 45 and 64, according to research.

As a result, it has a substantially greater impact on people in terms of the economic burden, because most who suffer from it are still in the workforce and have families. The disease brings an inevitable decline in functioning, and the length of progression varies from two to over 20 years. The average life expectancy after a diagnosis of FTD is 2 to 8 years.

“I was lucky to be raised by such a talented and unconventional dad. I wish he was still in the studio painting up a storm,” Phillips said. “It’s hard to find the silver lining in something like this, but I hope my dad is having a meaningful inner experience while his body declines. He used to listen to Ram Dass tapes and read his books. I often wonder if he is feeling connected to spirit, or at peace. I hope so. As Ram Dass said, 'we are all just walking each other home.'”

If you would like to reach out to the Kresge family, you can email Andrea at info@andreakresge.com

For more information on FTD visit: https://www.theaftd.org/

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